Seconds, Reprise
by Cassima
Summary: Sailor Pluto must set things aright.


30 Seconds, Reprise 30 Seconds, Reprise By [Cassima][1]

Rating: PG-13 or 14 once again, my selfless... ah... friends... Eh... for language. You know, I really don't talk like this...

Disclaimer: I own the world. Why does everyone refuse to acknowledge that? I made it. (_I_ sowed the seed. _I_ grew the wheat. _I_ cut the wheat. _I_ ground it into flour. _I_ made the bread. And what thanks do I get?!?) Sadly, I own nary an anime character, including the Incredible Sailor Moon. So, though I own you, I don't own the characters in this story. Or the bit of a poem I quote. Robert Frost wrote that. That's all I have to say.

Author's note: This is the revised version.

Read [30 Seconds][2] first.

_"And now--on with the story!"_

"Yes, on with the story!"

--Super Grover from Sesame Street.

Damn.

God _dammit_!

My arm makes a sweeping gesture, hurling my precious instrument across the room, where it stops with a _thud_, slamming against the wall and cracking to the floor. I should check to see if it's broken.

Of course it isn't. I've been trying to break that damn thing for years. Why should it break now?

Just to spite me. Ahh, I should have guessed.

I'm too angry and grief stricken right now to do anything useful, though. I've conveniently introduced a paradox that has ever so kindly halted time.

What to do, what to do.

It's not a question. I relay the last scene that I have watched, over and over again, with Neptune's mirror.

How interesting that it still exists, that time went on for a day after the paradox occured. The first problem only blew up half the gas tank. The last half hour blew up the rest of the enchalada.

Holding the mirror in front of me again, I watch the scene unfold for the tenth time today...

  


_"Mina! Mina!" Ami's voice is hoarse and ragged. She seems to have forgotten that she's wearing Usagi's brooch._

Makoto looks up dully into her friend's tear-stained eyes. "What is it, Ami-chan? Didn't you tell him about... about Usagi-chan?" Her voice catches in grief.

"Yes, but--"

"Because he needs to suffer like we are," Rei tells her, clenching her fists. "The bastard should have been there!"

"But--"

"So, how hurt was he? Did he even care?" Rei bites out, fire practically coming out of her ears. 

"Was he hurt?" Makoto wonders.

"Did he take it well? I know Mamoru loved Usagi--"

Everyone begins talking at once.

"HE'S DEAD!!!!" Ami screams, trying to shut up the voices. "HE'S DEAD, OKAY???"

Everyone stops talking, stunned.

"Wha...?" Makoto begins, trembling.

"How?" Rei swallows deeply.

Ami hangs her head. "A... a youma. He didn't even care. He just sat there, head hung... it was terrible." She begins to sob again, slumping to the ground. "It... I... oh... mina... Usa--Usagi-chan..."

Minako looks at Ami, her face suddenly growing cold. "I thought the ginzuishou exploded when Sailor Moon died."

"It did," Makoto agrees, swallowing tears. "Why?"

"Ami's wearing it."

Everyone looks at Ami, their tears halted. The sound is clear silence, with the blue haired senshi's crying the only interruption.

"You stole it." Rei breaks the silence of the senshi, shaking her head in disgust. "You **stole** Usagi's brooch! You're... you little leech! How can you... how... why didn't you save the Prince? If you were going to steal, you could've at least used it for **good**! Put some real use into it! You couldn've saved Mamoru-san!"

At these acusations, Ami's back grows rigid. The Crystal is already having it's affect on her, making her stronger, smarter, better than before. Because of the tremendous amount of her power, it took Usagi a while to feel the effects of it, but Ami's energy surges through like flowing water, fluid and flowing yet so very dangerous, re-creating the crystal to fit her use.

Unintentionally, mind you.

"I did not steal the brooch, Rei," Ami hisses out. "**It** chose **me**. **I** decided to take it off Sailor Moon's body so the Negaverse wouldn't get it, not the rest of you, and by the time I noticed the Negamonster, it had already killed Mamoru-san, okay? It's too late. It's too damn late for us to do anything. Someone else has to fix this mess. DO YOU HEAR ME?!?" she screams to the sky, looking straight at the Aqua Mirror, straight at me, as if she knows I'm watching. That is silly, though; at this point in time, she doesn't even know I exist. "DO SOMETHING!!!"

The senshi freeze, with Ami's fist still in the air, and I know the sequence has ended.

  


There is much I must do before the paradox causes the universe to explode.

Much to do...

_"And miles to go before I sleep,  
And miles to go before I sleep."_

I sigh.

I feel a headache coming on.

Raising my self from my huddled position, I retrieve my staff from the other side of the room. I am almost upset it's not broken.

Almost.

Waving my arms, I reinstate myself at the Gate of Time, preparing to cross through it. 

With a moment of hesitation, I step through. Instantly, a whirlwind of colors whip around me, unseeable by one on the other side of the gate. I pull myself towards the tangle in time and enter the normal time stream.

Damn, it's been a while since I've done this. I stagger, dizzy, across the sidewalk and stop when I come to a bench. When the party in my head finally stops, I start my search.

Finding the Small Lady isn't a problem; she keeps the Luna Ball I gave her with her at all times, so I simply use a locater spell. Sure enough, there she is, playing on the sidewalk with her friend and jumping rope. 

Children are so easily entertained.

Time for Time to intervene. "Small Lady," I call, standing with my arms crossed. "Small Lady, come here, please!"

She looks up, startled, worried, and distinctly terrified. Her look changes when her eyes wander to my face, though, and she gallops towards me. "Puu!!!" she screams, arms outstreached. "PUU!!!" I swing her into my arms, enjoying the feel of her small body again.

"Small Lady, you're in danger," I whisper into her tiny ear. Her eyes grow wide. "Run. Find Sailor Moon. Quickly, now, Hon. Quick as a bunny!"

"I love you, Puu." I pat her on the back, and her adorable red eyes plead with me not to leave. For a moment I am tempted.

The moment passes. "I must go back now. Do not let Sailor Moon die!" I warn, knowing this is a harsh lesson. "Sailor Moon must not die! You must watch her back, make sure she does not get attacked from behind, even if it means that you are hurt." It pains me to tell her this; I love Small Lady like my own child. 

She runs away, looking back for me every few seconds.

Her friend simply stares in aggravation. "Why did Chibiusa-chan leave?" she askes, more than a little put out.

"Don't worry," I tell her with a smile, "she'll be back."

I walk to where the battle will take place, leaving the girl to find her way home. She'll live. Being abandoned by Small Lady and me won't scar her for life.

I have arrived just in time for the middle of the battle. Ahh, the fun part; did my interference pay off? I sit down to watch.

"Sailor Moon!" Small Lady cries, staring at the fuku-ed girl. "Sailor Moon, look out!"

The senshi's head whips around just in time to see the youma coming for her. The rest of her friends are almost spent, having been on time for the fight. With a great leap, Sailor Moon bounds out of the way, leaving a giant crater behind her. "Alright, that's the last straw!" she cries, hands on her hips. "I am Sailor Moon, the champion of justice! And, on behalf of the Moon, I'm gonna make you into creamed corn, you got that, sleaze?"

The monster makes a move for Small Lady. This is the deciding moment. All life depends on what happens now. Will my pink-haired bunny--

"SHABON SPRAY!" Mercury manages to cloud the air with her weak attack, and sweeps Small Lady out of the way. "Are you okay?" she asks, eyeing the girl.

Small Lady nods her head, wide eyed at that close encounter. All that is left where she was is a crater, similar to the one that Sailor Moon dodged.

I am agog. _Sailor Moon was supposed to try to save her,_ I think. _Why did Mercury--How did she know... Last time, Mercury was spent, and on the other side of the street. How did she..._

But, as I always say, if you stop to think, time simply goes on.

"Sailor Moon!" Mercury yells. "Now!"

"Right!" Moon pulls out her septre and points it at the youma. "You're sushi! Moon Princess Halation!"

The youma is looking at Mercury as Sailor Moon charges up her attack, a sneer frozen on it's ugly face. With one fist, it reaches out and strikes Mercury as she protects Chibiusa with her own body. There is an awful tear of flesh, and she sways a little.

I stand, and the awful creature is blown away by Sailor Moon's attack. When the smoke clears, everyone is frozen, and I am at Mercury's side just in time to catch her as she falls. Her gaze is ironic as she smiles at me.

"A life for so many," she whispers to me. "Fair trade, ne?"

She knows. How can she know? "Mercury, you're dying," I whisper back. I can't help but remember our friendship, how I mentored her, and our many long talks. I remember our numerous projects--and now, I will be the only one to ever know them.

"She's my Princess." She coughed, her lips and mouth red with blood. "Pluto..." She smiles again, teeth pink. "I guess that's why you never mess with time."

_How can she know?_

Sailor Moon throws herself heavily on the ground next to me, pulling Mercury away from me and into her own arms. "Ami-chan!" she cries, tears rolling down her face.

Her gaze shifts from me to Usagi. "Princess..." and then the light is gone from her eyes, and she is gone, too. Usagi is hugging the body close, and I stand, suddenly old. I can feel time stablizing in the future; I have succeeded, or perhaps failed, and now I will be the only one ever to know her.

I stand and walk away, feeling extremely tired, and none of them challenge me. Damn, but I feel old.

So, you see, what no one ever tells you is that you can't fix time. She's a fussy mistress; the more you try to set things right, the more they go awry. Oh, there's a way.

But you pay the price in blood.

[Email Cassima.][1]

[Back to Cassima's Scribblings.][3]

   [1]: mailto:black_cassima@hotmail.com
   [2]: 30seconds.htm
   [3]: index.htm



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